Ladies (and a gent or two), if you have a sewing machine, you can make personalized products for your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and SELF. I got started when I bought a pillowcase for my niece at Canton Trade Days. I thought it was charming, but when I got it home and took a closer look, I realized that I'd paid WAY too much money for a poorly sewn , crudely cut, and slapped together product. The first time we washed her pillowcase, the stitching started coming out.

You don't need a fancy sewing machine. The first pillowcase I bought used a zig-zag stitch and chances are, you already have a sewing machine that will do that.

You don't need a die cut machine. You can print these off the internet or use some letters you print from one of your own word-processing or photo manipulation programs. Make sure the fonts you choose aren't too elaborate to sew. Enlarge them and print off an alphabet on card-stock. Either cut the letters out and trace around them or cut the letters out and use the frame that remains as your template.

Pins are hard to work. Don't pin your letters on your product or garment. They'll snag and bloody your fingers. Use a basting spray or fabric glue to hold your letters in place. Both are temporary. Both wash out. 

Use a stabilizer . Not all fabrics need it but if you use thin or stretchy fabrics, you may have some puckering. Water soluble stabilizer dissolves when you wash it. That saves you using ugly permanent stabilizer or from cutting paper off the back of your garment.

Spray startch your items. Fabrics and pillowcases sew much easier when they've been ironed and starched.

Make it memorable. You can cut out your child's favorite outgrown pajamas, make a pillow out of his t-ball jersey, or embellish enough towels for the whole bathroom with an old blankie. Take the stuffing out of small plush animals and sew those on pillows or blankets.

Don't overbuy fabric. If you're only planning to make a couple of items, buy one/eight yard segments of fabric. If you're doing a lot of projects, you still don't need more than a half yard of fabric at a time. Fabric is expensive. Buy as little as possible. If you run short, mix other colors in your project.

Simplicity. If you make it too elaborate, your project will look busy and all you'll see is tons of thread!

Contrast. Don't make it all one color unless you have seen something similar that you're copying. You can't read letters well if they're all similar colors.

White towels and pillowcases work best. If you MUST use a colored case or towel, make sure your letters pop by using sharp contrasts or a white fabric with a colored print.